Shloka 5
Varṇasaṃkara: Causes, Classifications, and Conduct-based Recognition (वर्णसंकरः—हेतु-जाति-आचारनिर्णयः)
एतत् तु नापरे चक्कुरपरे जातु साधव: । साधूनां पुनराचारो गरीयान् धर्मलक्षण:
etat tu nāpare cakṣur apare jātu sādhavaḥ | sādhūnāṃ punar ācāro garīyān dharmalakṣaṇaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Bhīṣma: “May nagsasabing ang ibang mabubuting tao ay hindi kumilos nang ganito; may iba namang nagsasabing ang mabubuting tao ay minsan ding kumilos nang ganito. Kaya’t ang asal at kaugalian (ācāra) ng tunay na mabuti ang pinakamabigat at pinakapinagkakatiwalaang tanda kung paano nakikilala ang dharma.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
When scriptural or theoretical claims conflict about what is permissible, the most reliable indicator of dharma is the established conduct (ācāra) of genuinely virtuous people; their lived practice carries decisive ethical authority.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he addresses disagreement about whether certain actions were ever performed by the righteous. He resolves the dispute by asserting that the behavior of true sādhus is the strongest criterion for identifying dharma.